Pretty Little Surprises
by TempeToxic
Summary: -Hey! Thanks for taking the time to read my fanfic. So the girls are in their first year of college. They know that A is still out there watching them, with Mona locked away they feel a little bit better that they have one less pair of eyes spying. That is until a surprise person shows up in their lives. Stick with me since my fan fic strays a bit from the show but not much.
1. The New Girl

The halls of the college were bustling as usual with people making their way through classes. The halls were lined with posters of on campus clubs, and several lockers for those who cared enough to purchase one. It made on campus travel much easier. "Who would have thought the things we were granted for free in high school would actually make life easier." Hanna thought to herself as she stood in front of her locker. She fluffed out her hair and slowly turned her face from left to right, gently rubbing her cheeks. She determined that left was for sure her better side.

Down the hall from Hanna, about five or so lockers away, the clutter of one of them slamming shut made the blonde jump and let her head jerk toward the noise. Her lips frowned slightly as a certain sadness glazed her eyes. The only eyes that looked back were the angry one's of Lucas. She followed them as far as they could go and even further after that, that is until the chirp of her cell phone caught her attention. Hanna hesitated a moment before looking down at the screen. It was thankfully only her mother. The awkwardly scary moment she just had with Lucas made an all too perfect moment for A to stick her ugly nose in. She sighed as she opened the message and began to read.

"Anyone I know?" asked Emily as she stood straight up, her arms wrapped tightly around her books as if she had constant fear of dropping them. Her Dark hair was pushed over to one shoulder as a scarf took up the space on her neck.

"Someone you know? yes, Someone you know but don't know...no. Its just my mom" Hanna said with a small smile.

"What did she want?" Emily inclined as they began to walk and her hair began to fall back over her shoulder.

"Just to tell me that she was going to be late" As the It girl spoke she didn't seem convinced. Convinced her mother wouldn't be home, sure. But not convinced that it was for work. She hadn't been acting the same. Emily looked at her friend with concern on her face.

"Penny for your rants?" she spoke softly.

"Nothing really, she just has been acting really weird. Its not like her to stay at work so late. And for so many days straight. Its not big deal. Its the summer time. Lots of high school kids getting accounts at the bank because of their first jobs and all that" She smiled in a attempt to convince not only Emily, But herself as well. The two walked in silence for just a moment. Only as long as it took for them to turn the next corner where Aria met them with wonder pouring from her voice.

"Hey did you guys see Lucas?" She asked, Emily and Hanna were about to respond when his shadow like figure passed them in the halls. The grew silent until he turned the corner, when the cost was clear they returned to their conversation.

"He just keeps getting darker" Emily said as she looked over her shoulder making sure he wasn't around. Hanna's stare dropped to the ground, she was never able to shake the feeling that the change in Lucas was her fault. A's fault, Mona's? that's what she told herself, but that didn't quite make her feel better either. Aria noticed the change in her best friend, Emily not too far behind. "Hanna, I'm sorry I didn't mean to"

"Its fine Em"She lied it wasn't fine. The three of the walked into room B26. Suddenly the it girl perked up. "Speaking of English, how is Mr. Fitz?" The Blonde asked in Aria's direction.

"Guys seriously?" The goth asked looking at her friends, "Ezra. Not hard. Ez-ra, see. We're out of high school can't you guys just try to call him by his first name?" Aria laughed though the matter truly did frustrate her.

Emily rolled her eyes slightly with a smile to match "Aria we tried. It was really awkward!"

"Its true" Hanna injected "I felt like he was going to give me detention or something for being insubordinate. To us he is always going to be Mr. Fitz" She said exposing her left side to the light coming in from the window.

"The wedding of Mr. Fitz and Aria" Emily laughed. Aria sighed and shrugged having silently given up for the day. Maybe the week...the month.

"We're great by the way, Better than ever, it feels really good to have no secrets" The two girls froze and looked at her awkwardly. "Well, no secrets about Ezra" She corrected. The three took their seats in the room and retrieved their note books.

"Where is Spencer?" Aria had noticed that their usual four-some was now only a three-some. It was unlike someone as punctual as their friend to be late, judging by past experiences it wasn't a good thing. Last time it meant Ian Trying to kill her.

Spencer stood impatiently at the admin office, hoping to transfer herself into Latin. She never saw use for German these days, which is what she was currently taking. Even though she was well aware of the fact that there was no never ending demand for the use of Latin either. Not unless she planned on being a historian or a conspiracy theorist. She planned on being neither. Since Spencer had already taken Latin in high school she was more than well prepared to dominate the top of the class.

Sure it was hard. But it was also special and beautiful. The first two drove her because she was a Hasting, but the last because she was Spencer, and she appreciated beauty. The well dressed young woman took a few steps closer to lean against the faculty mailbox. It was then when a familiar face caught her attention. Her body shot up standing straight as she tucked herself out of the office door. Transferring to a different class could wait.

Spencer cleared the door and backed up against it taking a deep breath. "Oh my god" she whispered to herself. An old woman opened the door behind he and caused her to stumble back.

"Excuse me young woman but that is a very bad place to stand, in the way and rude!" she scolded before walking off. Spencer gave her and odd look. She wasn't usually disrespectful but it did catch her off guard.

"Sorry!" she said quietly before grabbing up her phone and allowing her fingers to do the rest of her talking.

The eccentric English Professor was in the middle of a speech on how Animal Farm was a sick perversion of our society to come, and of course Aria listened intently. He has no way of explaining things the way that Ezra did but it would do. Emily focused on her swim schedule and Hanna reapplied her lip gloss, for the third time in fact. Suddenly a loud melody of ring tone's began to echo through the room. The girls flung for their phones in the pockets of their purses but it was too late. The lecture had stopped and all eyes were on them.

"Anything that has the option to be turned off should have been done so the moment you entered my class room. You may not care about the money your mommies and daddies are paying so you can take these classes but some in here do" he said deeply aggravated.

"Yes Sir, So sorry" Aria.

"Sorry" Emily.

"Yeah" Hanna.

The looks transferred from the girls and back to their professor. The three of them looked down at their cell phones glowing screens. "From Spencer: S.O.S." It didn't take long to realize something was wrong. They gathered their things with fear on their faces, moments later they were on their way to meet Spencer with thousands of idea's going through their pretty little heads. Spencer met them out side of the office, her arms crossed nervously as she constantly looked back over her shoulder into the office.

"Hey!" Emily said rushing to her best friends side and taking her arm in her own.

"Whats wrong?" Aria asked looking around. Everything seemed to be normal where they stood. Spence pointed to a small built woman standing in the office at the front desk. Hanna's eyes instantly grew wider now understanding the urgency of her friends S.O.S.

"No. Way." She said squinting to get a better look. Aria looked at the two of them obviously confused.

"Can someone fill me in on what we are looking at please?" The goth demanded.

"That lady right there, that's Mona's mom" Hanna spoke quietly. Her whispered words did no good. Mrs. Vanderwall turned from the office desk and smiled in Hanna's direction, accompanied with a wave.

"What do you think she wants?" Emily asked the others.

"Maybe she wants us to stop visiting Mona" Aria reasoned.

"No, no way" Spencer replied "if that was the case she wouldn't be smiling" The door of the office opened and each of them took a deep breath.

"Hanna! Girls!" Mrs. Vanderwall made her way over, she was a small woman, even smaller than Mona was now. "Hanna, I just wanted to thank you so much for going to see Mona, I know it has really been helping her recovery." She turned her attention to the others and smiled at them as well. "And I heard you three went as well?" She asked with an over enthusiastic tone, not for a woman who's daughter has been committed for being a state certified psychopath.

Aria nodded her head, in part for herself, then in part of the others. "Uh yeah...just checking up" She told Mona's mother while forcing a smile.

"Well that's good. Mona needs friends right now and it is so wonderful that you three are stepping up to fill that position" As a mother she was certainly using the word friend loosely.

"So you came to thank us?" Emily asked.

"Oh no, that was just a stroke of good luck. No my niece is coming to school here and I was just coming here to check it out" she frowned slightly "I had always hoped it would be Mona I would be filling in paper work for" She laughed it off slightly before looking behind her as a tall, brunette, girl approached behind her. She wore a pair of wedged boots, sailor style shorts, an owl tank top, and a large bow inside her straightened hair. "Girls this is"

"Shelby" Hanna finished.

"Oh you remember her?" Mona's mother asked.

"Kind of, a couple birthday parties. Mostly just pictures of you and Mona when you were younger. She used to talk about you all the time" Hanna said politely, even though she was very wary of the new girls presence at the school.

"We used to be pretty close. That's kind of why I came. Arizona got boring anyway so why not come and keep my aunt some company while Mona is...um...away?" Shelby had hoped that wasn't the wrong thing to say. She didn't want to say off her rocker, crazy, or in the nut house. Honestly anything she would have said would seem awkward so it really didn't matter which choice she went with. The new girl stood awkwardly and laughed "umm sorry" she shut herself up.

Her energy made Emily smile, a little bit bigger than the fake smiles the other girls were faking. As appose to Spencer of course. She was never any good at faking her emotions. Her expression was blank. It went with out saying that Shelby and Mona were not blood. They looked nothing alike and had totally different personalities, still Em shook off the smile out of suspicion. "Anyway...I should get going, I have an internship appointment" Shelby said as she played with the scarf around her neck.

Of course the word Internship sparked Spencer's interest immediately. "Where at?" She pried in the polite Hastings way.

"Rosewood Bank, It was nice meeting you guys, and good seeing you again Hanna, maybe we can all hang out sometime"

"Yeah totally! Bye" Emily jumped in quickly with a response. Shelby smiled in her direction. Mrs. Vanderwall waved and soon, the two were gone. Aria looked to Hanna.

"Isn't that your mom's bank?" she asked the blond as they stood in place. Hanna nodded in response.

"It is. so what?" Spencer said "but there is no use in worrying about it until we have to" she told them all, mostly to convince herself not to worry. As the four began to walk in their own separate directions they're phones began to chirp. The all looked back at each other before taking the next step of reading the blessed message out loud.

**"Play nice with the new girl, Bitches, you all know what it's like to be a stranger. -A"**

"Can we worry now?" Hanna sighed before the four parted, the would discuss their new theories later in the day.

**-Hope you guys like it so far, I know its a bit of a stretch. Peace!**


	2. Secret Sparks

**-Hey! I was so happy to see that I had readers, and to get my first review so I figured I'd go ahead and post chapter 2. I just finished writing it and hope you all enjoy learning Ashley's secret!**

Ashley Marin sat at her desk, leaned in as close as possible. Her stomach tightened with every email she flipped through. Each from a different person. Each made her feel worse and worse. This was unlike the read head. Sure she had used the internet for relationships before but what drove her to this she had no idea. It felt right, and wrong. She was lying to her daughter. "ugh!" she sounded before hitting the delete on her account, sending each flirty Email to the trash.

"Excuse me?" A small voice came from the door across the room from Ashley's desk. "I have an interview for an internship...they sent me back...here" Shelby spoke looking around the room as though trying to decipher if the man up front had pointed her in the right direction or not. 'Great, as if I'm not awkward enough lets add being lost to the equation' the tall young woman thought to herself. Ms. Marin found herself staring at the young girl with a bright smile.

"Shelby?" she asked, having remembered the folder placed on her desk earlier that day for an internship. It wasn't often one could find an attractive young girl looking to intern at a bank so it had to be her.

"Yeah!" The young woman said happily, relieved to know that not only was she not lost but she came to the right place first. "Its nice to meet you" she smiled standing hunched slightly at the door.

"Please come in" The older woman told her. As she made her way to the guest seat on the other side of Ashley's desk, the red head felt her eyes scanning over her. She was cute. Very cute. Her style reminded her some what of her daughter Hanna, and perhaps a bit of Emily too. Who was still living with them, so she got a god sense of Em's clothing and fast. "You look very nice" Ashley complimented.

Shelby blushed instantly. It was one of the things she hated about herself the most. She couldn't just blush. No her whole body would turn red to the tips of her fingers. "Thank you" she smiled downward. At that they began the interview.

Aria and Hanna sat in the kitchen at the Marin house hold. They spoke about the appearance of the new girl Shelby. Obviously, Aria was weary but no where near as Hanna. She would never say it but the blonde had her own suspicions. Suddenly Mona's cousin shows up out of no where, interning for her mother, who was acting pretty strange herself. Something didn't fly with this at all. "Han I'm sure your mom had no idea that Shelby was Mona's cousin." The goth thought, after all she herself didn't know so it was much less likely for one of their parents to be the wiser. "I mean what...do you think your mom has something to do with A?" Aria asked. Not truly believing it.

Hanna stood up fast "No! My mom would never do that to me. Or you...or Spencer and Emily. None of us." she defended her mother.

"Okay, so then what are you worried about?" Aria wondered. Hanna walked over to the counter and leaned over it. what was she worried about. A lot of things. These days A gave her little if nothing at all to not worry about.

The it girl ran her fingers through her hair and held her hand up in an 'I don't know' type manor. "Her, I guess. So what if my mom isn't exactly A it doesn't mean she can't end up a victim. She almost did once before. Remember?" she said referring to the incident where her mother could have landed in federal prison thanks to A. Aria nodded and stood circling the counter to her friend and wrapping her up in a hug. Just then Spencer and Emily walked in with two large paper bags with Chinese writing all over them.

Spencer slowed her step and placed the bag on the counter. Her eyes poured with concern for the hug her and Em just walked in on. "Is everything okay?" Spence asked crossing her arms to avoid the chill blowing directly from the A.C. Hanna opened her mouth to speak but Aria quickly interfered.

"Nothing. Just a lot of things going through our heads about Mona's cousin." She told the others. Spencer smiled sympathetically.

"Yeah I think we all were a little taken off guard. What I can't figure out is why would A care if we got along with her or not unless she has something up her sleeve." Spencer theorized. perhaps being a conspiracy theorist was more of a career option for her than she realized. Spence tapped her finger twice on the counter before beginning to open up the bag.

Emily remained silent as she too began to go through the bag. The others exchanged theories and possibilities. Each painting Shelby out to be a bad guy. Hanna noticed Emily's silence through their talk. "Earth to Em" She shouted. Emily looked from her food up at the three.

"I hear you" She told Hanna quite quickly.

"What are you thinking then? You are kind of staring at your kung pow like its the last of it on earth." Aria said looking down at Em's food that was hardly touched.

"You okay?" Spencer took the calmer approach.

"Yes" she looked down "No" she changed her mind. "I just don't feel like we should be judging anyone. As much as I hate to say it, and I do hate to say it. A is right. We all know what it is like to be on the outside looking in." Emily defended.

Hanna could barely believe her ears "You aren't serious right? what? now we are going to start taking social advice from A? that's like taking Fashion advice from the homeless guy outside of mall!" Aria paid no mind to the comparison. Spencer noticed the oddity of it but quickly ignored it.

Emily looked at the blonde intently, every so often stealing glances at the other two. "Well think of it this way. We judged Toby because he lived with Jenna, We judged Nole because he tried to frame Mr. Fitz!" Aria rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "Then Melissa, I think we are so sick of it that now we are just looking for someone to blame." Em continued to defend.

Hanna was frustrated, first her best friend turns into her worst enemy and now Emily is asking her to not be so judgmental. like she had a choice. "We all saw how you acted around her Em, are you sure this has nothing to do with something else?" Hanna accused. Spencer and Aria froze as the room grew silent. Emily's face became flat as she reached for her bag and stood up and turned to the door.

"Hanna!" Spencer scolded. The blonde looked down, for the first time she felt like Ali. "Emily...wait" Hanna ran up behind her friend. "I'm sorry...I didn't mean that" Em knew she did. 'I didn't mean it' is what people say when they are sorry but don't have anything else to blame it on. She had grown used to it. The blonde's apology was excepted.

Emily walked back over to the counter and sat, even quieter than before. Aria cleared her throat to break the silence "So what are we going to do?" she asked.

Spencer froze a moment then smiled. "We do it Hanna's and Emily's way" The brilliant young woman responded.

"What?" Emily asked looking up from her now cold kung pow.

Hanna smiled looking at Spencer "Keep your friends close and your suspected A's even closer." Spencer nodded compliantly.

"Then its done then" Aria smiled "Lets take this party into the living room. The movie is going to start soon" they began to walk one by one from the room. Hanna reached over and grabbed her drink as her phone began to chirp. She froze then reached to the left of her Dr. Pop to pick it up.

**-Trying to replace me? Didn't think you had it in you Han. Careful heavy is the head that wears the crown. -A**

Hanna closed her eyes and deleted the message. "Coming Han?" Aria called from the next room.

"Be right there" she yelled back before grabbing her pop and joining the rest.

Ashley reached over the desk and extended her hand to her new intern. "I look forward to working with you Shelby" she said in the most sincere of voices. Shelby blushed again as the touch of the older woman's skin gave her butterflies. Ashley was exactly the type Shelby would fall for, but hardly the type that would fall for Shelby. Older, red headed, smart, sweet. As their hands parted Ms. Marin accidentally knocked over a cup of pens. "Damn it" she whispered under her breath.

Shelby held back her smile. Clumsy? that was it. Ashley was the picture perfect woman. However, she would keep her distance. She had learned this lesson before with a woman in her old work place back in Arizona. She wouldn't let herself fall in love again. But a small crush couldn't hurt. 'right?' she wondered. The young woman got down on the floor with Ashley and began to pick up the pens. "Oh yeah, this is going to be a great place to work" she laughed.

Ashley looked up at her with confused expression. "oh? why is that?" she wondered.

Shelby placed the rest of the pens back in the cup that had been holding them and placed them nicely back on Ms. Marin's desk. "Knocking over pens is the least of my clumsiness" Shelby smiled before waving good bye and exiting. Ashley remained on the floor for a moment. A pen or two still remained in her hand as she watched after Shelby. She tried hard to not admit it to herself but she felt something as she touched that young girls hand. This was getting out of control.

Ashley stood up and walked around her desk. She clicked the mouse on the left and recovered her email. A few more clicks and her computer brought her to the page of the dating site she had been using. . Her fascination with the life style happened when Emily moved in. She started to wonder how being with a woman would feel. Soft, gentle. It took one time for Ashley to be hooked. Ms. Marin never saw it coming. She stared at the page for a moment. 34 messages. 12 requests. 46 winks. The red head closed her eyes and felt her heart beating fast as she pictured Shelby walking out of her office. Shelby wasn't a child. She was in college. 'Is she even gay?' she wondered 'if she isn't does it matter? you can't be on this site anymore...you can't keep lying to Hanna' she told herself.

Ashley gave herself the final budge by using her daughter. The mouse scrolled up to the account setting, then down to the deactivation. "Hanna" she whispered. "no more lies" she said as she hit the tab. Suddenly her account was gone. No more messages, requests, or winks. No more late nights at work. Well, as far as she knows. Ashley smiled at the home page of the website that said "Meet girls today! Sign up here!"

"No thank you" she grinned before shutting down her computer completely. The older woman grabbed her cell phone and texted.

**-I can't make it tonight. Or ever actually. I'm sorry. Good luck. -Ash**

Ashley felt bad for a moment. blowing someone off that way. But after a few moments the sting began to dissipate. She began one last text.

**-Coming home tonight after all, save me some Chinese! -Mom**

Hanna's phone chirped in her hand as the other girls laughed at Emma Stone in Easy A, Ironic, the only time they want something to do with the letter A. She looked down startled at first. She opened the message expecting to see something like, don't wait up. Instead there was a much more pleasant surprise. The blonde smiled happily. Aria leaned over and whispered. "What is it?"

Hanna replied happily. "My mom will be home soon."

"See I told you it would be okay" Aria grinned as she laid her head on her best friends shoulder before looking back to the TV screen.

**-There is a bunch more coming so I hope that you stick with me for a wicked love triangle and lots of dirty little secrets.**


	3. Remember Me

**-Hey, I had a lot of fun writing this chapter. I really hope you guys enjoy it. It can get pretty intense.**

Aria stood from the couch and stretched. Spencer and Emily had been long gone since the movie finished about a half hour ago, they had offered to help clean up but Hanna was in a good mood and told them she could do it herself. The goth looked at all the Chinese food containers on the floor. "Wow" she said as she picked up a few things. "Do four of us really eat this much?" Aria asked.

The blonde laughed as she took what she saved of her beef and broccoli, fried rice, and Chinese doughnut for her mother and took it to the fridge. "We must" She called from the kitchen. Aria brought some of the trash in from the living room and lifted the lid to the garbage can. As aria turned she caught her friend getting ready to crack open a fortune cookie.

"You really think that is a good idea?" She asked crossing her arms and looking down at the three remaining cookies on the counter "After last time" Her eyes gazed up to her friend. Hanna simply shrugged.

"What are the chances that Two A's will have the same idea? The fortune cookies thing has been done. It's so homecoming" she grinned. It wasn't funny, but perhaps the willingness to do something so small such as opening a fortune cookie could be a step to the girls not being afraid to live their lives. Aria looked at the cookie in Hanna's hand.

"Okay" she nodded "Go ahead." Aria crossed over to the other side of the kitchen counter as though she expected the cookie to blow up. The Blonde looked down at the cookie in her hand and took it by the other side, she split it open. Aria leaned over the counter slightly unable to see what it said as Hanna read closely.

"Well..." The goth spoke. "What's it say?" she asked. The It girl smiled and held up the fortune to her friend. "A fresh start will put you on your way" She smiled as she repeated it to Aria. Aria sighed in relief. "You wanna open one?" Hanna asked. Aria held her hands up in protest.

"No thanks, Your fresh start can be for the both of us. I have to get home." She told her as she walked around the counter and gave her friend a hug. "You're brave you know that?" Aria asked as their hug separated. Hanna lifted her eyebrow and cocked her head to the side.

"Um, ok? why? I opened a fortune cookie" she laughed.

"Its a fortune cookie I wouldn't have opened." She smiled and grabbed her bag. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Bye!" Hanna replied. As Aria was walking out she turned to the side to allow Ashley entrance.

"Hey Ms. Marin!" she smiled. Ashley returned the hello and stepped through the door, closing it behind her.

Hanna smiled and took the left over food from the fridge "Hey mom, I saved you some Beef and Broccoli" She told her mother. Ashley smiled wide and took the food from her daughter's hand.

"You're a saint" the older woman told her daughter.

Hanna laughed, she had been getting all kinds of compliments today. "Its no big deal, what happened at work that you ended up not doing?" she asked her mother.

Ashley looked up, startled like a deer in headlights for just a moment. She realized that she was about to be caught in a lie. All that was left was to pull the oblivious card. "What do you mean?" Ashley asked. Hanna sat on one of the closest tall counter chairs.

"Well this morning you tell me you are going to be late, and then you tell me your coming home." Ashley promised herself she wouldn't lie to Hanna anymore. But just once more couldn't do anymore damage than what was already done. Could it?

"I had a large list of intern meetings" she lied. "Turns out I only needed to see one to find the perfect gi..intern" she paused. Ashley coughed nervously, she had almost said girl, she had almost outed herself. Still that wasn't a lie. She did only see one person, and they did turn out to be the perfect candidate. Hanna trusted her mother, though she caught onto the stumble, she wasn't sure what all it meant.

"So who is it?" The blonde asked.

Ashley placed her food in the microwave and turned her back towards her daughter. "Who is who Hanna?" she played dumb convincingly considering Ashley is a very smart woman.

"Your intern"

"Oh her name is Shelby, she is new in town. From Arizona" She told her daughter. Hanna's face grew flat and The room grew quiet for a small moment until the beeper of the microwave busted the silent bubble. Ashley grabbed her food and turned to face her daughter. "I know this is the first night I'm actually home but I have some reading to catch up on. You don't mind do you?" Hanna sucked in her bottom lip to a flat smile and shook her head no. Ashley walked over to her and placed a small kiss on the top of her head before vanishing into the hall and up the stairs.

Hanna slouched in the seat and looked up to the ceiling. "What is up with her" she whispered to herself. 'Its work, that's all.' she thought. 'she has been really busy, she'll be herself again. worry about Shelby'. The it girl stood and began to walk to the hall when she remembered the other three fortune cookies sitting on the counter. She turned slowly and let her eyes slowly fall to them. In an instant she turned back around and walked towards them. She stared at them for a moment as if waiting for them to do a trick. Hanna slowly reached for one, she hesitated a moment then scooped one up. Once in her hand she broke it quickly.

**A smile is your personal welcome mat.**

She tossed down the paper, and grabbed another.

**An inch of time is an inch of gold.**

Again she tossed the paper to the side of her and cracked the fortune open. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath as she prepared herself for the last fortune.

**A dubious friend may be an enemy in camouflage.**

Hanna was relieved. No messages from A, the last fortune however gave her chills. Reminded her a small bit of Alison, who though had her weaknesses had ways of making Hanna feel good. Ali also had the power of making her feel awful. The blonde picked up the papers, and the larger pieces of the cookies before sliding the rest of the crumbs off the counter and into her hand. She turned and lifted the lid to the garbage and dusted the crumbs from her hand. As She began to make her way up the stairs she heard an odd noise on the front porch. Slowly, she crept toward the door and leaned her ear against the cold wood. Nothing.

Hanna reached for the door nob and turned it, quietly pulling it open. When she felt the cost was clear she stuck her head from the door and looked from left to right. Not a person in site. Well except for Mrs. Hendricks across the street. She was not guilty of anything but a terrible wig and being a cat hoarder. "You're hearing things Han" The blonde boldly opened the door the rest of the way and walked out onto the porch. The sun had just gone down about an hour ago, so it was still fairly light. There was a light breeze and it felt good on her fair skin. Hanna had begun to turn back in when something on the far side of her porch caught her eye.

The it girl began to take small steps to it until it became clear. A fortune cookie. "No" she whispered to herself "Not possible" she grabbed the cookie in her hands and broke it so quickly that it fell into ten different pieces. She held up the note in fear.

**Even mothers keep secrets, and you don't know the half of it -A**

Hanna looked around quickly to make sure no one was around, she stuffed the note into her pocket and ran for the door. Once inside she pushed it shut and locked both locks. Hanna pulled the note out once more to make sure she read it right. "My mother?" she whispered before turning and looking up the stairs. "What don't I know?" The blond headed up to her bedroom and placed the note in a jewelry box under her mirror. Though it was early, Hanna had been through many ups and downs that day. She was more than ready to fall into bed and sleep, as she did.

Shelby tapped her foot at the front desk at The Radley Sanitarium. The nurse was no where to be seen and visiting hours were almost over. Shelby was supposed to have been let in hours ago. Finally a chunky nurse with red cheeks and blonde hair walked to the front desk. "I'm sorry for the wait, we had a hard time getting some patients to take their medicine." The nurse told her.

Shelby smiled politely. "Its not a problem" She lied in the nicest of manors. It was a problem 'I don't have all day lady. Who runs this place?' she thought. "May I see her now?" she asked.

The nurse checked and made sure that Mona's visitation status had not changed. It had, she was allowed visitors, with out supervision. She got permission for good behavior. "You may, you'll need to leave any lighters, sharp objects, jewelry, that's including that hair bow, and your heals." As the nurse rattled off the list Shelby complied by removing each item. When she had gotten to her shoes she looked oddly at the nurse. 'My heals really? whats she going to do shank me?' The new girl sighed and removed them anyway.

The young girl looked around at the place where her cousin had been sent. People rocked back and forth in the halls talking to people that weren't there. A woman held onto her doll and cried hard and she screamed she wanted her baby. It was sad. How did this type of thing happen to people. How did it happen to her cousin. She remembered when they used to play tea party or run the trails when Mona came to visit her in Tucson. She knew that Mona had changed. She even knew that she was kind of a bitch. Its a large reason on why they stopped talking for so long. Mona was all about Mona. Still, they were cousins.

At the end of the hallway the nurse unlocked a narrow white door. "Hit the button when you are ready to leave dear." Shelby was informed by the plump woman. The young woman walked into the what seemed to be an empty room with a table that was round with no edges, a bed with no sheets or pillows, and a doll.

"Mona?" Shelby called for her cousin. Suddenly she heard a faint hum coming from the other side of the bed. She walked slowly around to the other side. She had expected to see what she remembered her cousin as. The picture perfect beauty queen. Perfect hair, smile, eye liner, and lip gloss. Instead what she saw was a pathetic lump. Mona's hospital gown hung loose around her body as it skirted around her on the floor. Her hair was a dark brown scraggly mess, and her face was bare, revealing the small brown spot on the right side of her nose which she usually covered up with make up. "Mona?" Shelby said again. This time quieter and with more surprise in her voice.

Mona was running her fingers through the hair of her doll, she was well aware that Shelby was in the room. She stopped and place the doll perfectly in front of her. "Who did you think it was, you obviously came to see me" She told her cousin as she turned her head to face her. She had a small smile as it slowly faded. "You look different" she analyzed.

"So do you" Shelby said as she sat on the floor next to her.

"Mother told you to come didn't she?" Mona accused.

"No, I came all on my own. You know once upon a time before the make up and the"

"Crazy" Mona spouted. Shelby ignored the negativity.

"Distance, we used to be friends"

"Used too?"

"You stopped talking to me Mona"

"After you turned your back on me Shelby!" she argued

"I met those girls you know, today at school." Shelby tried to change the conversation. It worked, it caught Mona's attention.

"Oh?" She waited for more. "And?" she said agitated.

"And, they seemed really nice. I think I'd like to be friends with them." Mona glared at her cousin. Nice. None of them were nice, they wanted to be but they weren't not even Hanna, which is why the two got along so wonderfully.

"They won't trust you" Mona grinned pleased with herself.

"We'll see" Shelby was beginning to think this visitation was a bad idea. Mona said nothing else and the silence was getting to be far to much. the quiet was so much that it began to hurt Shelby's ears. She couldn't take it anymore. Shelby pushed herself off of the ground and began to walk away. Mona shot up.

"Mom told me you are interning for Rosewood bank!" Shelby stopped and turned around slowly.

"Yeah...so what?" Shelby asked. Confused as to why her cousin would care where she was interning. Or interning at all.

"Ms. Marin is very pretty. Just your type. I'd be careful. These types of relationships...someone always ends up hurting." Mona said with a cocky smile. She hadn't spoken to her cousin in a long time but it didn't mean she didn't know how she thought, or her type. That made her feel powerful.

"There is no relationship. She is my boss that's it" Shelby spit back.

"Mm touchy touchy, no need to be so defensive" Mona laughed. It sent shivers down Shelby's spine. This was way too creepy, and she hated how well Mona knew her now where it used to be a blessing.

"I have to go, Mona" Shelby said,

"Come back soon, cousin" she grinned and sat back on the floor. Shelby stood at the door for a moment as she heard Mona pick up the doll. "It's alright Alison. It's just us again" Mona closed her lips and began to hum once more as she ran the small fake brush through the dolls hair.

Shelby turned quickly and hit the button. The door hadn't even opened the full way but Shelby found a way to squeeze her body through. As soon as she reached the front desk, the young girl quickly slid on her shoes and simply carried the rest out to her car. She through the remainder of her belongings into the passenger seat of the car her aunt had let her borrow. Mona's car. Shelby stumbled to put the keys in the ignition, and through the car into drive. Soon Shelby was on the road and had begun to calm down some. She leaned over to hit the radio power when her cell phone chirped. It caused her to jump slightly.

Shelby reached down for her phone. The from box simply said Unknown. That was odd, probably a wrong number. She opened the message on her Iphone.

**Silly girl, don't you know what happens to new girls in this town? -A**

Below the message there was a link, Shelby was already nervous and frightened. She was that type of person. She didn't need much to scare her. She hesitantly hit the link. The phone configured its connection to a website. There she found an article all about Mia St Germain. Shelby froze and her hand lost grip. The phone fell to the floor and as she looked up she screamed. A car was heading right for her. She swerved to the left and released a loud scream. Darkness.

**-Did Shelby survive? Is Mona up to something? Will Hanna find out her mothers Dirty little secret? Keep reading.**


	4. Always About You

**-Hi! Sorry that took so long, but I think you are really going to like this chapter. Thank you so much for sticking with me. **

Smoke filled the air. It was suffocating. Shelby could feel the weight on her chest as she tried to breath in what she could. No go. Instead of breathing she began coughing as her eyes slowly began to open. Her vision was blurry at first, and she couldn't tell if it was her eyes or the smoke making it so. She waited a moment. The smoke. Her coughs grew deeper as she thought of her plan of action. "Gotta get out" she said to her self followed by another cough. This time dry, and sharp. Shelby placed her hand on the Seat belt, it didn't budge. She looked around slightly panicked.

The young woman came to realize she was nose first in a ditch, and the sun was rapidly going down. If it were to get dark before she got herself out then it would be very unlikely for someone to find her. Tears built up in her eyes. Her left hand reached to wipe them out of the way, her vision already being impaired and blurry from the smoke, she didn't need tears too. As her arms raised she let out a loud yelp. A sharp pain ran through her left hand, wrist, elbow, and right to her shoulder, neck and back. "FUCK" she screamed. Cough. trying her best to grab it with her other arm. Cough.

"That's it" she thought to herself. "Make noise, make a lot of noise." The horn! She let go of her other arm and squinted as it fell limply to her side. She positioned herself as comfortable as someone could get in that situation. She coughed again. Shelby stared at the horn for a moment like it was her best friend. She pushed down on it. Nothing. "What" She did it again, this time harder and several times. Cough. "NO!" she screamed, doing it one last time. This time in anger and less in expecting a result. Shelby slammed her good hand on the wheel and starred at it as her eyes filled up with tears once more. Cough. This time she let them go.

There was only one other way to get someone's attention. "HELP" she began to scream. "Please! Help Me!" Her voice quivered but carried on as needed. Her coughs and plea's continued as she moved her foot around. Her foot was searching for her purse. With in her purse was a nail file. It was no box cutter but it would have to do. The more she called for help, cried, and coughed the closer she was to passing out again. She didn't care. She Looked down fast, ignoring the sharp pain in her neck as her foot hit the strap of her purse. Shelby maneuvered the strap of her bag around her foot and inched it up a little at a time.

About a minute had passed before she was able to reach down with her right arm and take hold of it. Only another minute or so before she gained access to the nail file. Shelby tossed the rest of her bag away to the passenger seat and began to file into the seat belt strap. Her vision was nearly gone now. Working blindly she continued. The young woman was slowly succumbing to smoke inhalation. Her smudged eyes began to close, and her hand suddenly halted to a stop,the file falling right from her hand. The ting hitting the floor.

A dark figure hopped into the ditch, A large rock in it's hand. The mysterious figure looked through the window as if deciding his or her next plan of action. Finally making a choice the figure stepped back and chucked the rock through the back window on the drivers side. It knocked out most of the glass but not all. The mysterious hero took their elbow and removed as much glass as possible before reaching around to the drivers door and unlocking it. Once the driver's door was open the dark man or woman reached into their pocket and pulled out a small Husky Box Cutter. The figured reached in and with a few strokes broke the girl free.

The figure was careful in releasing her in case of any injuries. It turned its head to the road then began to climb very carefully, Shelby in hand. The hero struggled, hard, but finally got her to a car that was running, and waiting for them. Shelby's eyes opened slightly to look around. The shock of finally being able to breath a little better allowed her to wake up and notice she was free.

"My arm hurts" She whispered. A cough followed.

"We'll get you help" A man's voice said, It was a weak man's voice. Light. Shelby nodded her head. The smoke inhalation made her feel drowsy. She once again closed her eyes.

The man laid her in the back seat of his car and buckled her in as best he could with out hurting her arm. He closed the door and turned to face the ditch again. Once more he jumped in and searched the front seat for her purse. He was about to give up when he saw the small gold chain handle twinkle on the floor of the passenger side. He grabbed hold of it to bring it back to his car with him. As he hurried to the car the man reached for his cell phone out of his pocket. He dialed.

"911 what's your emergency?" A woman's voice asked on the line.

"There was a car accident. A girl inside, she was hurt, she can't wait for an ambulance. We're close by. I'm taking her to the hospital myself."

"Location?" she asked bluntly.

"Radley Road" He replied.

"Are you friends with this girl?"

"I don't know her"

"Your name sir?"

"Lucas Gottesman" With that he hung up. Lucas looked into the back seat where Shelby lay sleeping. He sighed and put his car into drive.

Emily and Spencer were driving down the road, on their way back from Hanna's. They had a few stops to make, some the same as the other so Spencer offered to drive.

"What's that up there?" Emily asked as she saw some flashing lights on the side of the road. Spencer groaned.

"The road is blocked off!" She complained. The other route to her house was long, and confusing. As most the roads in Pennsylvania were. An officer walked to the middle of the road. His left hand thumb was placed, almost posed in one of his belt loop. He lifted his right hand in the air and had his head down as he crossed over to the other lane, expecting Spencer to stop. She did.

"Sorry ladies. Roads closed tonight. Got a mess to clean up" He said liking his teeth and looking over at the car in the ditch. Spencer and Emily followed his gaze to the accident.

"What happened?" Emily asked turning her face back to the cop. He leaned down onto the drivers side door and shrugged.

"It appears who was ever driving was distracted, or lost control, Almost hit another vehicle." He said respectfully to her question.

"How can you tell that's what happened?" Spencer asked. He was polite and she was interested in knowing how one could know something of that nature. The officer smiled. He was more than happy to give the answers to the questions of two lovely young girls. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his flashlight. He stood straight and pointed the light to the road and pointed.

"Now you see how the skids?" He said referring to the skid marks on the road ahead of them The girls nodded. "The person who was driving in this direction" He pointed to the way in which the two of them came. "Now look at the skids on this side of the road. They are darker than the other ones. Meaning, the people driving this way saw first, and had more time to react. They didn't have to hit the breaks as hard. Who ever it was they were about to hit just kept going." He explain.

Spencer nodded, she understood fully and it made sense. Emily nodded as well but her nods were followed by one last very important question. "Was anyone hurt?" Em asked.

He shrugged "That I don't know Miss" Another car's headlights began to shine from the distance.

"Thank you for talking with us" Spencer told him.

"Anytime miss" He grinned. "You can go on and turn your vehicle around up in this field right here, you need directions for a detour?" he asked not wanting the girls to get lost.

Spencer had a hard time with the other way. It was twisty, confusing, and dark but she could pull it off. "No that's fine. Thank you, have a good night."

"The same to you" He smiled and walked to his car. Spencer was in the process of backing up while Emily pulled out her phone and snapped an image of the accident. As they pulled away and headed back in the direction they came Em began to scroll through the three pictures she took.

"Why did you take those?" Spencer asked as she adjusted her lights. Turning her brights off to allow the other driver's to see better.

"It's just nice to see cop cars and destructive situations in Rosewood that have nothing to do with us. I figured Aria and Hanna would want to see too" She laughed.

Spencer smiled her big signature smile and continued to drive.

The next day Spencer and Emily stood in the Hall way of Hollis and waited for their friends. When Aria and Hanna met up with them Emily was all too excited to show them the pictures. "Hey!" She smiled. As they greeted each other. "You guys want to see some Rosewood drama?" She asked.

Hanna was all for it. "You mean Rosewood drama that doesn't involve the name's Aria, Hanna, Spencer, or Emily?" She grinned. "Of course!"

Aria took her phone first, considering Spencer already knew, and had already seen them from the night before. She looked at the picture's and frowned a little bit "That's some bad damage to the front end" She said. "I feel bad for whoever has to fix that." Aria handed over the phone to Hanna, as Emily was telling the story of the cop who told them almost everything about the accident. Hanna starred at the picture. 'No way' she thought to herself. She looked closer at the plate number to verify.

"Guys!" Hanna interrupted. Emily looked up "Sorry Em, But these pictures, may have something to do with us." She informed the rest. Spencer's and Emily's faces froze.

"What?" Emily asked

"But" Spencer looked from Emily to Hanna "How?" Spence asked.

Hanna replied by pointing to the car. "I know this car...It's Mona's" She said looking up from the pictures.

"Well there is no way that Mona is out and driving around, Okay last time we saw her she was like...on lock down!" Aria said, a little freaked out.

Spencer chimed in as the voice of reason "Who else would drive that car. It's been sitting abandoned since Mona got taken away. The Person driving was probably Shelby" She told her friends.

Emily looked scared for a moment "Don't you think we should go see her?" Em suggested.

"And say what?" Aria.

"Sorry you cracked your skull here's a cookie?" Spencer said sarcastically.

Emily looked to Hanna hoping she would say something too. Hanna sighed and rolled her eyes back then to the side. "Maybe we should go in." She spoke. Aria and Spencer stared with question. "Not because I want to make sure she is Okay or anything. She is interning for my mom now and I just want to...see if she knows some stuff" she confessed.

Aria looked to her friend "I thought everything was fine?" she questioned.

"It is, I just want to see it for myself." She said nothing of the Fortune cookie that told her, her mother was lying to her.

Emily spoke "Well I want to go because she needs friends. I think she is nice and we should give her a chance."

Spencer had her arms and legs crossed as she stood. She looked as though she was being lectured and didn't want to say anything first.

"You're right Em" Aria said with a small approving smile.

"Right" Spencer agreed. They looked to Hanna.

"I'll be friends with the girl but I'm keeping my eye out." The it girl told the others. The four went their separate ways and would meet up at the hospital later.

Ashley looked at the time. All day had gone by and she got nothing from Shelby. She was begging to worry. The redhead reached in her purse and grabbed her cell phone. She scrolled through her numbers. Thankfully she still had Monica Vanderwall's Cell phone number in her phone. She hit dial and held the phone up to her ear. It rang twice and then a broken hello came through from the other side.

"Monica?" Ashley asked hoping the number hadn't been changed in the time since Mona had been away.

"Yes, who is this?" She sniffled.

"It's Ashley" she replied. Silence "Ashley Marin?" she clarified.

"Oh Ashley, I'm so sorry, yes. How can I help you?" Mrs. Vanderwall asked.

"I was calling to see if you have seen Shelby, she didn't show up to work today" There was silence for a moment then...

"Oh! I was supposed to call you. I'm so sorry! Shelby was in a car accident last night"

The words made Ashley's stomach drop, and her lip quiver. She didn't know Shelby long, but she knew she was a sweet girl, and she cared for her very much. Too much? "Is...She okay?" she almost wasn't sure she wanted to know the answer.

"Yes, she is fine, well. She is Alive, and isn't too seriously injured" Ashley took a breath of relief.

'Thank god' she thought "Is she staying in the hospital near your house?" she asked. Mrs. Vanderwall told her yes, and with in minutes Ashley was in her car and on the way,

The four girls stood at the front desk at the hospital waiting for someone to take them to Shelby. Emily held a small Teddy Bear in her hand with a get well soon card attached. "Hey Hanna look" Aria said "It's your mom."

Hanna turned quickly and looked to her mother coming in the front entrance. Just then her phone chirped in her pocket. She reached in quickly and pulled it to her face. Open Text.

**Looks like everyone wants to get close with the new girl. Sure you can handle it? -A**

Hanna looked stunned as she dropped her hand to her side and looked up to her mother, who at this time had already noticed her. She waved a small wave, and smiled. Hanna did the same, her smile much more weary than happy to see her mother.

**-Hey guys, I know the ending sucks but it is getting late and I worked today haha. Hope you enjoyed it. Next chapter is planned and ready to be written.**


	5. The Little Things

Ashley grabbed onto the strap of her purse as her daughter began to walk in her direction. She began to move forward as well as her quick thinking brain came up with a lie. Fuck, how did the lies keep coming? Hanna walked toward her mother with a mission. To figure out what the hell A was talking about once and for all. Well, about her mom anyway. The blonde stopped in front of her mother.

"Hanna" Ashley said happily, as though it was a pleasant surprise to see her. It wasn't. At all. Not even a little bit.

"Hi" Hanna replied. Weary. "What are you doing here?" she asked her mother who stood cool as a cucumber.

"Same reason you are, I assume. Shelby"

"No, I know why we are here. Why do you care you've known her for like a week" Hanna laughed in her accusatory type way.

Ashley looked ashamed. "Hanna that's awful. She's sweet. I may not have known her long but she still is someone I work with. You girls haven't known her long and you're here."

'Damn, she's right' Hanna thought. She simply nodded her head and looked down, moving a strand of hair out of her face. "Yeah, you're right. I'm sorry" she smiled. Hanna could be a little bad ass to everyone else. When she was on a mission she was going to complete it, but not with her mother. Her mother she just had to trust. A was playing mind games.

The redhead looked down at her daughter and felt a small break in her heart. Like someone dropped a bolder into her stomach. 'Too many lies' she reached over and gave her daughter a hug.

The girls stood behind and paid little attention to the interaction going on between the mother and daughter. An average sized nurse walked in. Her face was small and young looking and she had long dark hair tied into a pony tail. There was something familiar about her. Each of the girls noticed but thought it was just them, so they kept quiet. "You can go in and see her now, its down the hallway, fourth door on the left."

Hanna looked at her mom "We might be here awhile so if you want to go in first you can" She told her.

Go in first? Ashley? No way. If she were to go in first she wouldn't be able to stay long. like she wanted to. "No you girls go ahead, I have some work I brought with me, and a client down the hall, heart murmur patient, I'll stop and say hi." Ashley played everything off so cool. Hanna nodded and returned to her friends as the small familiar nurse lead them to Shelby's room.

As they entered the room Shelby laid with her eyes closed. She was bruised and cut and her Left arm was in a cast. Emily frowned and walked quickly over to her side placing the teddy bear next to the lap by her bed. Right under the loud beeping machine. "What is that?" Em asked looking up at the machine.

"Its a heart monitor" Spencer said as she walked behind Emily and looked down.

"Is that really necessary?" Aria asked turning to the nurse.

The nurse grinned politely and nodded her head n. "No, its just standard procedure. You're friend should be fine. She'll have a cast for a few weeks, and she'll have to use an inhaler for awhile. As you can see there are some bumps and bruises...If my brother hadn't of shown up when he did it would have been a lot worse." The nurse smiled proudly. The girls ears perked up right away. Spencer's eyes were drawn to the nurse's name tag and suddenly she knew where she had seen that face before.

"Gottesman? Like..."

"Lucas, right!" she smiled happily. the girls starred awkwardly at each other, the nurse paid no mind. "Well back to work, let me know if you need anything and enjoy your visit...I see your friend is waking up." she pointed. The girls all turned to Shelby's whose eyes were fluttering open. When Aria turned to see the nurse she had already exited.

"Hey" Emily said lightly, instinctively taking the injured girls hand.

Shelby smiled "Hey you guys, this is a surprise" she said followed by a cough. The sound of her voice made it obvious that she was trying to sound optimistic.

"We just wanted to make sure that you were okay" Hanna said quietly and grabbed her left hand over her right arm.

"We got you a card and a teddy bear" Emily said grabbing the bear from the end table and handing it to Shelby. With her right arm the weak girl reached over and grabbed hold of it. Em took charge and opened the card for her before handing it over. The cover was a girl lying sick in a bed with a fever that said "**Feeling sick?**" When it was opened it the inside said "**That's okay because you have friends to make you feel better every step of the way**" then signed with the four of them. "**Hanna, ****Spencer, ****Aria, ****Emily**" The young woman smiled while reading the card and hugged the teddy bear close to her.

"Thank you, so much" Cough. "Ugh this cough is obnoxious!" Spencer saw the inhaler sitting on the table next to the window, she took a few steps closer and swiped it up.

"Do you need this?" she asked. Shelby nodded, Spence walked over and handed it to her, taking the card and setting it up next to the ones from her family.

"Thank you!" Shelby spoke.

"So how are you?" Hanna asked. instantly realizing what a dumb question that was.

"I'm actually better than you would think, I mean FML because of the whole accident thing but honestly I thought I was going to die, so I'm just happy to be alive"

"We're happy you're ok" Emily smiled.

"Yeah" Hanna agreed. "So you're working for my mom now at the bank. Do you like it?" Hanna was being kind but it didn't stop her from wanting information.

"I do, I mean not that I'm going to run and become a banker but its a good job and..." she paused for a moment and cleared her throat "Sorry, What was I saying?" she knew exactly what she was saying, she was getting ready to make a comment about Hanna's mom in which one should never make about someone's mother.

"The bank" Hanna retorted.

"Right, you're mom is just really nice and a good teacher" She blushed lightly. Not our of the ordinary blushing was normal for her. Full body.

"So you've gotten close with my mom?" Hanna questioned.

"Yeah...I have, is that okay? I mean I don't want to step on anyone's shoe's or anything" Shelby rushed her words.

Hanna shook her head "No, no its fine, I'm glad. Work is no fun when people there don't like you. Trust me I know, I once worked for my ex boyfriends mom." Hanna tried hard to relate.

The girl cringed "Ow, how did that end?" she asked.

"Lets just say I'd never get hired again" All the girls laughed some. Aria looked down at her watch and stood.

"I'm glad you're okay, I have to meet Ezra for dinner so I have to go, I'll see you guys later?" All the girls responded, including Shelby, with yes's. After Aria's left she was followed by Spencer, and when Hanna felt there was nothing more she needed to worry about, she left as well. Then there were two. Emily and Shelby.

"Is there anything that I can get you?" she asked.

"No, but...could I ask you something?" The young woman looked down at the cast on her arm. now filled with a few signatures the girls had placed on it before leaving. "Do you know someone named Mia St Germain?" Emily looked up quickly. 'How am I supposed to reply to that?' She thought. 'Yeah she was my first girlfriend' too much too soon 'I spent a lot of time with her' to vague. "Yes, I did" 'Smooth, add something' "Why?" she asked, fighting the erg to roll her eyes at herself.

"Can you grab my phone right there" she pointed, Emily did so and handed it to her, it must be awful to do be able to do things for yourself. She once felt the same way for Hanna after being hit by that car outside of Camp Mona. Shelby scrolled through her menu and went directly to her messages. She hit the very first one and handed it to Emily. "Someone sent this to me, its why I crashed, someone really doesn't want me here"

Em looked down at the phone and nearly lost her breath. 'A' she thought to herself. "I don't why someone would send this...save this message okay, and send it to me. whatever you do, do not let this message get lost okay?" Emily demanded, but in a caring way which made Shelby feel safe. She was actually making real friends here.

"You have my word. No losing the message" Shelby told her. Just then a figure came from the hallway.

"Am I interrupting anything?" Ashley's voice asked as she stepped foot into the room. "Hi Emily".

"Hi, no you're not, I was just leaving. I'm making taco's tonight, will you be home?" she asked. The older woman smiled and nodded.

"I sure will be" She replied. Em turned and hugged her new friend carefully. "I'll come see you tomorrow okay?"

"Okay" Shelby told her. Emily grabbed up her purser and smiled sweetly at Ashley before exiting. Ashley waited to make sure that Emily was gone before kicking the door stopper out of place and shutting the door. As Emily walked down the hall her phone chirped in her pocket. She thought it was Shelby sending her the message. As she began to reach for her phone she realized that she hadn't given her, her number yet. She pulled up the message.

**Afraid someone has beat you to the treasure Em, better luck next time. -A **

Emily looked back at the room, she shook her head. "Head games" placed her phone in her pocket and walked straight through the double doors.

The red head turned to Shelby and grabbed her chest. "You scared me so bad today" The older woman spoke as she walked over and took a seat on the stool where Emily once was. "I thought maybe you had quit on me"

"I would never just quit on you, or just leave I swear, besides I love working at the bank...and with you" the younger girl said looking down. It made Ashley's heart flutter.

"I believe you, when your aunt told me you were here I rushed right over" Shelby was beside herself that this older woman that she was starting to have feelings for was so concerned about her. It both excited her and made her sick. This would give her hope and then something would crush her like Ashley going on a date or something. That's what always happened.

"I'll be back in work in like...two days...granted I can't carry anything but I should be able to do everything else." She laughed. Ashley reached over and grabbed her predecessor's hand, she smiled and looked into her eyes. All the air left the room, which is pretty bad for someone who has to have an inhaler glued to her hip. "I.." she didn't know what to say.

"You'll come into work when you're better"

"But.."

"No but's" Ashley smiled and leaned down carefully wrapping her arms around the younger girl. Shelby was angry at this point with who ever sent her that text. First hug from Ashley and only one arm to hug back with. It would have to do. Shelby wrapped her good arm around her boss and smiled the biggest one she could muster. As Ashley pulled back she leaned in close to Shelby's face, for a moment she wanted to peck her lips, instead she quickly switch to Shelby's cheek, which left Shelby in mid pucker with enough time to suck her lips back in. 'The cheek?' she sighed quietly. 'I'll take it, but hope...I'll take that too' she thought.

For an hour Ashley and Shelby sat, hand in hand and had conversation about life. Issue's, Mona, school, work, and above all Ex's. Hand in hand with her older lady friend crush and there was Shelby, talking with her about Ex's. She had been caught in this trap before. Still, It wouldn't be Shelby if she didn't give in to hope. Ashley stood and leaned down for one last hug, one last kiss, one last drop in each of their stomachs as they wished for more. Ashley hesitated before she stood straight and grabbed her purse. "You have my number...my personal number?" she asked.

Shelby nodded "yeah on speed dial, always good to have your boss on speed dial" she laughed at herself. Not funny.

"Call me, anytime, even tonight, if you just want to talk" she told her before giving her a small smile and exiting. Shelby sat stunned for a little while as she thought about what had just happened. Ashley had been there for what felt like an entire day. It was the best 'Just an hour' of her life. Shelby reached as far as she could and switched the light off. All the visitor's and stomach boulder's made her tired. Shelby sunk beneath the blankets careful not to hit her cast and fell asleep.

Shelby had been asleep for some time, the nurse had been in and out checking her every so often. The next time she came accompanied by a visitor. "Is she okay?"

"Yes, Lucas. Thanks to you she is fine. Make it quick, visiting hours are over and I can get in trouble for this" His sister told him before exiting. Lucas had no intent on waking Shelby if she was asleep. He wasn't even sure if he wanted to talk to her. He knew who her crowd was and he had been over the liars since his fall out with Hanna and then some. This reminded him, as it did Emily, of when he came to visit Hanna.

Shelby rolled over and saw the dark figure in the door. "Hello" she said, her voice riddled with sleep.

"Hi"

"Who are you?" she asked.

"Lucas" he replied. Shelby flashed back to the nurse the first few hours she was here.

"**My brother Lucas brought you in, you're lucky**"

"You're the one who brought me in?" she smiled.

"Yeah, just wanted to see how you were" He said quietly.

"I'm good thanks to you" She thanked him.

"Don't thank me..I've gotta go" He said, Shelby frowned.

"Wait!" it was too late, he was gone. He acted almost as if he shouldn't have come. Shelby shrugged it off. When she got out, she would thank him properly.

**-Hey guys, sorry it took so long to post chapter five. Hope you're all still with me. Like I said before this isn't exactly following the show. In this story we're going to find out what's going on with Lucas. He, for a while, is going to be a big character. Thanks for reading!**


	6. Secret Intentions

**-Okay so a lot of you probably just watched the Season finally, and I don't know if you are all as shocked and upset and sick over who A is as I am but wow. Anyway a lot of my story does not go by the show BUT I'm considering making another story, one in which Toby is also A and taking it from there. Obviously Spencer will be a bigger character in this story. Let me know what you think. Enjoy chapter six.**

The sun was shining through the window at the hospital, broken shades of light and dark patterned the walls from the half opened blinds in Shelby's room. It was early, around eight am when a new nurse and Mrs. Vanderwall tip toed in. Wasted effort, Shelby was already awake and playing on her IPhone. "Hey sweetheart!" Monica Vanderwall said as she crossed the room and kissed her nieces cheek. "How do you feel?" concerned.

"I'm fine, the cough is gone completely. I haven't coughed all night!" She was excited. That cough and driven her to her last nerve.

"That's good" The round red cheeked nurse replied, to a conversation that wasn't her's to have. "But you're still going to have to use that inhaler for a while. Some activities are going to be hard for you" the nurse went about, teetering around the room. Shelby rolled her eyes and laid her head back.

"Yeah" she groaned "I know" she added. Mrs. Vanderwall looked to her niece with a look of disapproval. 'Be nice' she mouthed to the unhappy girl. Shelby simply shrugged off the manor.

"Alright, will give you a quick check up and see how your doing okay?" The heavy woman spoke cheerily as she stepped close, stethoscope in hand. Shelby looked over to her aunt and sighed.

"Have at it" she told her. Getting an okay meant leaving the hospital and two days in she more was more than ready to book it.

Emily stood in the kitchen, going through the left over's of taco night. There was quite a bit. Usually taco night was a hit at the Marin household but yesterday things were different. Hanna had decided that night to go on a diet which would fail at the first chance to go to the coffee shoppe where Emily was employed. Emily was too busy thinking about what she had to tell the girl's today about Shelby and her message from A. When it came to Ashley, she just wasn't herself. It was clear to Emily that Ashley hadn't been thinking clearly. Em chalked it up to work and let it pass. Em closed the fridge and looked around the house. She had spent so much time here in the past, and now that her mother was traveling back and forth between Rosewood and Texas she was only here every other week. Nothing really felt like home.

She took the two plates covered in tin foil and placed them on the counter in front of the stove. Emily placed a white flower tortilla on a plate and removed the tin foil off of one of the plates. The day old meat looked less than appetizing but she figured if she didn't spend much time looking at it then she could force herself to eat it. She placed a scoop and a half on her tortilla and then quickly covered the brown slop with shredded lettuce, tomato chunks, and sliced olives. She was already starting to feel better about being able to put this "Food" in her mouth and letting it go through her body. She shook off the thought. 'Don't talk yourself out of it'. Emily took the tin foil and wrapped up the first plate.

After messing with the second plate for awhile she added some sour cream, some cheese, and salsa. Emily looked around the kitchen, clean up first, then eat? Eat then clean up? She shook her head and pushed her taco to the side and began to clean. The front door creaked and echoed through the open hallway which lead to the kitchen. Emily's eye's shot to the door way. No one entered. "Hello?" she called out. There was no reply. The girl grew silent, and her breathing got light, like a cat getting ready to pounce.

Her heart raced, and the sound of it beating itself was louder than her exhale. She slowly slipped the her hands from the yellow rubber glove that protected her hand from the wet soapy rag she was using to clean the counter with. She looked down to the heals on her shoes, They'd surely make sound if she were to walk. Using the toes of her other foot she removed her shoes one by one. While removing her left shoe it slipped. When it hit the floor it made a clink. Which made Emily cringe and look to the door of the hallway with a terror in her eyes.

Taking slow, light steps she began to walk to the hall, From the door way she could see no one. "Hello?" she repeated. No response. Emily took a deep breath and began to take small cautious steps through the hallway. She was just about to reach the living room when Hanna stepped from around the corner.

"Hey Em!" She said happily. Emily released a small yelped and stumbled back a little. "Where are your shoe's?" Hanna asked giving her friend a weird look as she passed her by.

"That was you the whole time?" Emily asked following her friend back into the kitchen.

"Yeah, Why is there just a taco laying on the counter?" she asked raising her eyebrow and turning to open the fridge.

"I was cleaning first...Why didn't you answer me?" Em sighed before walking over and picking up her taco in her hand.

"I didn't hear you" Hanna decided on the half empty Gatorade in the fridge door. "Do you think this would mess up my diet?" Emily nodded no as she chewed a few bites of her taco and looked disgusted at the rest. Her heart was calming down but her appetite was gone. Hanna let the fridge close behind her and sat on one of the chairs. "Going to see Shelby today?" she asked.

Emily place her shoeless foot on the black pedal of the metal trash can and dropped in the rest of her taco. "Yeah, in like an hour." she looked down at the trash before moving her foot and letting it drop. Hanna looked to her friend with suspicion.

"Are you okay?" Hanna wondered. Emily looked up and crossed her arms.

"Shelby got a message from A" She blurted out. Hanna starred. "I don't know what to do" Emily looked down and swiped a long strand of hair behind her ear.

Hanna stood up and walked over to her friend placing a hand on hers. "Do you like her...I know I was kind of mean about it before but do you actually like her?" She compassionately held her friends hand. Emily shrugged and looked to the left. Unsure what to say.

"I don't know maybe." She was quiet for just a second but as she returned her focus to her friend she began to speak again "But what I do know is that A almost killed her. She almost killed her and I...I don't know what to do about it." Hanna shook her head and sucked in her bottom lip as she thought.

"We're going to tell Spencer, and we're going to tell Aria, and whether you like her" Emily looked at her quickly, mid sentence "Or not" Emily relaxed, Hanna finished. "We are going to protect her" She gave her friend a small reassuring squeeze.

Emily simply looked down. "Last time we brought someone into the four, and told therm about A, it was A"

"Mona fooled us...me" The blond looked down.

"Us..and Shelby is her cousin"

"Shelby isn't A"

"How do you know?"

"The same way you do" She argued. Emily grew silent. "Look do I think A is after her...yeah, but I think A is trying to, I don't know, turn us against her."

"I thought the same thing" Em spoke quietly.

"So then we won't let A trick us...again...Its hard to go through this A thing, at least we all have each other, Shelby doesn't know anyone here" Hanna reasoned. Emily looked up cautiously.

"Weren't you afraid of her just over a week ago?" She asked.

"My mom set me straight. And A really pissed me off" The blonde smiled. "Come on, I'll take you to go see Shelby. We'll talk to Aria and Spencer later then we will tell her about A all together okay?" the it girl grinned.

"Yeah, sounds good." Em nodded. Hanna grabbed her Gatorade off the counter and bent over to grab Emily's shoes.

"Cute!" She laughed and shoved her friend lovingly before handing them over. Em slipped them on and they grabbed the keys and headed for the doors.

Emily and Hanna walked through the double doors at the hospital. It seemed busy and no one was paying any attention to anyone who wasn't being rushed in with half their inside's spilling out. "Ew" Hanna whispered.

"Do you see Lucas' sister?" Emily asked looking around the crowded hospital hall. Hanna looked from left, to right, then double took to the left once more.

"There! Come on" The Blond grabbed onto her friends hand and began to drag her through the hall. "Hey! Hey!" Hanna called.

"Oh hey girls, is there something I can do for you?" The nurse asked before looking down at a clip board then placing it in a slot next to a patients room.

"Can we visit Shelby?" Em got right to the point.

"She went home this morning girls" the Nurse informed the as they walked and talked.

"Oh?" Hanna spoke.

"Yeah, she was granted bed rest at home for a day or two and she'll be up and ready. Better tell your mom to bring her some work home" the nurse laughed. "Gotta go girls. Its Football season and the picking is fresh. Get me two CC's of Morphine in room three!" she called out to another nurse. "Broken leg" she told the girls before walking off and meeting another patient being rolled in with a wheel chair.

"Come on Hanna, lets go." The two made their way to the drive way.

"Why wouldn't she have told you?" Hanna asked.

"Don't get suspicious now. She would have but I forgot to give her my number yesterday."

"What do we do now?"

"Go see her I guess" Em suggested. Hanna got quiet. "Han, you okay?"

"Yeah, its just the last time I was at that house, I was flipping through magazine's with Mona" Em patted her shoulder before circling over to the passengers side.

Monica Vanderwall opened the door wearing a blue apron and a house dress. She and Mona had never shared the same fashion sense. "Oh hello girls" she greeted. Emily replied, Hanna starred blankly at the house she had once spent so much time at. It felt like a whole different world now and the feeling it gave her made her sick. That disgusting mix between familiarity and being lost. Emily nudged the blonde's arm with her elbow to get her to return to the present.

"Oh, sorry, Hi" Hanna replied.

"I know this must be strange for you Hanna, it is for me too, You should be here visiting"

"Mona," she interrupted. "Yeah, I know..." she had heard it all before. She didn't mean to come off rude, she was just uncomfortable with all the change.

"Shelby is upstairs in the guest room, you two can go on up, I have some cookies in the oven" She invited them and headed back to the kitchen. Emily climbed up the stairs first. Even though she had never been in the house she felt it would be easier for Hanna if she lead the way. Once they reached the top Hanna had to take the lead. Hanna walked down the hallway, at the end was a room with the door half opened. Its walls were pink and decorated with furry crowns, magazine cover's, and stuffed animals.

Hanna Starred into the room as though watching a film. She saw herself laughing on the bed with Mona, talking about clothes, and being queen bee's. Being the it girls. Hanna began to tear up as the feeling over whelmed her.

"Hanna" Emily shouted a little louder. Hanna snapped back and looked to her friend.

"Sorry" she pointed to the guest room, Emily walked in first. Hanna stole one more glance at her past before following. Shelby's eyes brightly widened as she saw the girls entering the room.

"Guys, I'm so happy that you're here! Emily I totally forgot to"

"Get my number, I know, its my fault, i forgot to give it. Lucky we know where you live" She laughed.

"Sounds creepy!" Shelby joked.

"So, Emily and I were thinking since you have to be stuck in here for a few days maybe you would like us, like Spencer and Aria too to come over" Emily gave a Shelby a glance.

"yeah..." She said looking to Emily. "Yeah that would be great!" she smiled. Shelby knew that Emily had something to tell her, something about that text. Why else would she react so strongly to it.

"Hey girls you want some cookies?" Hanna turned around at the sound of Mrs. Vanderwall's voice. She smiled sweetly.

"No thanks, Diet"

"You're just the same Hanna. Emily?" she turned her attention to the other visitor.

"No thank you, but thank you" Emily told her. Hanna tightened the purse strap around her shoulder and looked to Shelby.

"We better get going but we'll see you tomorrow night?" Shelby nodded, Emily smiled and handed her a sheet of paper with her number on it, and with that the two were out the door.

"Well that was nice of them" Monica said as she placed some cookies on the table next to Shelby's bed. "What are you going to do now?" She asked.

"I don't know, probably just call my friend from Pittsburgh, She's kind of worried." Her aunt leaned down and kissed her niece's head.

"Let me know if you need anything"

"I will, love you!"

"Love you too, Shell" she told her before taking a step out and shutting the door behind her.

Shelby waited a few moments and listened to the distinctive thumps of her aunts foot steps trumping down the stairs. For a small woman she sure walked loudly. Shelby turned and looked at the clock, it was five minutes til seven and Ashley should have been home by now. Her cell phone sat in her hand, she stared at it so long she felt her eyes glaze over. Her brain was telling her to hit the number two on her speed dial but her fingers did not obey. Finally she took in a deep breath and hit the number. "No going back now." was there? She considered hanging up but then Ashley would wonder why there was a missed call from Shelby's phone. 'Shit' she thought 'huge mistake'.

"Hello?" Ashley's voice came through on the other end. Shelby froze. "Shelby?" she asked.

'Right she can hear me' "Yeah Hi, it's me sorry I didn't hear you." she giggled nervously. Again, not funny.

"How are you sweet heart?" Ashley asked. Her voice was low, quiet, like a whisper and it was muffled, almost as though she were talking to a pillow or something. The young girls heart sunk.

"I'm fine, what are you doing?" she asked.

"Laying in bed" Shelby's suspicions were now accompanied by knowledge.

'I knew it' she thought. "I was really missing work today" She spoke symbolically of course. Work being Ashley.

"Well I can't speak for work, but I really missed you" Ashley couldn't believe herself. Her voice was deep and flirtatious like never before. Not even with the many dates with woman she had, that she hid from Hanna.

Shelby was stunned, she could barely breath. Wait? Did she need her inhaler? no...no it was just Ashley's voice. It was different tonight and she loved it. "I missed you too" Shelby blushed, thank god there was no one there to see it this time.

"Listen, when are you able to get out of that bed?" Ashley asked her young friend.

"Thursday, why?" Shelby was curious to see if this was going where she hoped it would go.

"There is this Place I know, its kind of expensive but its to celebrate you getting better. I want to take you there for dinner, just the two of us...like...a work dinner" She tried to make it seem more innocent than it was. Her voice reveled her secret intentions. Shelby didn't let the work comment crush her, she was determined that by the end of Thursday night things will be more serious.

"It sounds amazing, I can't wait"

"Dress nice"

"Always" their tones got deeper and even more flirtatious with every pass.

"Call me tomorrow?" Ashley almost demanded in her question. It was getting too hard to not talk to this girl everyday. The girl who has restored her youth and made her feel beautiful and needed by someone more than her daughter or some woman online looking for a thrill. It was a real emotion. Shelby smiled gently, and her voice got softer.

"I will."

"Bye, Shelby"

"Bye, Ashley" It was one of the hardest things in the world to do, which was both sweet and sad. But the two of them hit end on their phone's. Shelby sunk into the blankets, a smile over came her face. She was about to dial her friend's number when a text message lit up her screen. Shelby starred and the anonymous message with fear before opening it up.

**I struck out this time, next time you wont be so lucky. Watch you're back. -A**

The new girl closed her eyes and dropped the phone. Suddenly she was in no mood to talk. She went to her messages and forwarded both of the A messages to to Emily. along with a text that said.

**I don't want to talk about it tonight, I'm gonna call it a night. See you tomorrow. -Shelby.**

Shelby hit the power on her phone and placed it next to her before cuddling in her pillow, and doing her best to fall asleep.

**Hope you guys like it, it took me some time because I was writing it in between the commercials of the season finally haha. Anyway hope you liked it! Keep reading. **


	7. Dream State of Mind

**-Okay, haven't posted in a few weeks but I wanted this chapter to be really good for you guys! Enjoy :)**

Every thing seemed more defined, more beautiful. Every twinkle in Ashley's eyes were beautifully blinding. As Shelby's hands reach to the older woman's and held them tightly, they were warm and soft, and a small smile crawled across the red heads face. Everything was perfect. The candle light lit up the room as they ate a lovely dinner and talked about any and everything they could think of. How could life get any more perfect. Shelby was so into what was in the now she could barely remember how she got there. "Wait" she thought, how did she get there?

Shelby's looked down at the older woman's hands and suddenly the atmosphere changed drastically. Her eyes slowly began to scan upward and Ashley was no longer wearing a lovely red dress that complimented her hair, in fact, she was no longer holding hands with Ashley at all, she met eyes with the girl she had seen in the article sent to her. Mia. She quickly released her hands as Mia sat still and looked at her with an intense gaze and haunting smile. Shelby was now paralyzed with fear, she tried to speak and only broken sounds and deep breaths came out. Mia pointed to the door of the room in which they sat, everything except the door itself was in odd black in white shadows.

"What?" Shelby asked turning back to where Mia had sat, inexplicably, she was gone and Shelby was alone. "Mia?" She called, "Where are you?...Ashley?" Shelby stood carefully and walked small cautious foot steps towards the door. Each foot step broke the eery silence with the clink of her boots. Shelby closed her eyes tight and stepped foot through the threshold. "Hello?" She called, eyes clenched tight hoping to hear a familiar voice. One did not come, she opened her eyes slowly and looked around. It was dark, very dark. "Who's there!" she demanded. Suddenly a loud clank startled her, and lights in a very dank hallway began to turn on one by one, lighting her way, dimly.

It was against her better judgment, it was against most anything she would do, and yet, for some reason as though she had no control over her feet what so ever...she began to move forward. Strange noises began to sound. Very hard to hear, some of it sounded like news reports, other parts sounded like a voice of someone she didn't know, her heart was racing and tear filled mascara rivers ran down the land that was her cheeks. "Is anyone here! Please!" There was but one more light to be turned on, Her feet stalled, nearly tripping her, as if some kind of force was yelling at her to go no further. She would have been happy to oblige, except now she was afraid to go back.

Everything froze, the voices paused into such a great silence that her years began to beg for some kind of sound, any sound at all. Dripping water, or an electric buzz. Nothing came. She watched as the very last light burst out into a flash so extreme that it appeared to be the lights of heaven calling her in, she looked away and shielded her eyes until it began to dim just long enough for her to force her gaze. There stood, in the middle of the bright light a dark figure, hooded, mysterious, evil. Her heart began to pound hard, a scream released from her mouth as the figure drew near and then "I woke up".

Shelby described to the girls, changing Ashley's name to Heidi, the girl she once liked in Arizona. Had it been any other time Emily would have been thrilled to hear that Shelby was gay, but now she was just terrified for her. Shelby looked to all the girls whose faces made it obvious they were just as scared for Shelby as she was for herself.

"Are you okay?" Emily asked placing her hand on the bed next to Shelby. Shelby nodded.

"Yeah. I guess, just super freaked out, like...I don't know what any of that is supposed to mean. That message I got, and the one fro last night...it has me really freaked out." she told the others.

Emily looked to Hannah, Hanna to Shelby. Hanna cleared her throat and began to speak "That's why we're hear actually"

"You know how to read dreams?" Shelby asked confused.

"No" Hanna said.

"Well I kind of can" Spencer interjected.

"Still" Hanna looked from Spencer to Shelby "Not the point, we can't tell you why you had that dream or anything I mean it isn't some movie...not ours anyway"

"What?" Shelby

"Nothing, You aren't the only one who got messages from A...we all have." Hanna told her as she tucked a piece of hair behind her ears.

"But why" she asked. With that the girls went around telling the story one by one of Allison, The Jenna Thing, and everything that followed suit. Shelby listened intently. She was both horrified, and interested, and of course by the time it got to the part in which Mona came into play, she got very sad. Mona freaked her out now but she did miss their closeness. Mona was no longer her cousin, she was just a girl who was crazy and she used to know.

"And that's it, that brings us to now. with you" Spencer said looking down at the horrible beige carpet. Every thing about this room screamed for guests. Not for Shelby.

"But...there is still so much that doesn't make any sense." Shelby spoke.

"That's the stuff that doesn't make much sense to us either" Aria spoke up. Shelby sat quietly for a moment. in a daze almost.

"Shelby?" Emily spoke.

"I'm sorry" she looked up "I'm sorry for everything that Mona did, I'm sorry that it's still happening. And I'm sorry if I have ever given you a reason to not trust me." Shelby apologized, a lot for things that were not even her fault.

"Look we were a little suspicious of you, especially since Mona cried A too...but we believe you, and we're willing to stick with you through this so that you don't have to go it alone" Spencer spoke.

"And we actually really like you" Aria added.

"But if you turn out to be A we'll take turns kicking your ass, clear?" Hanna warned. Shelby both laughed and nodded her head. She couldn't picture any of the girls kicking someones ass.

"I'm not A, I swear, but noted!" Shelby smiled. The rest of them laughed as well, it would be nice to have a five some again. With someone a lot nicer than Ally and a lot less crazy than Mona.

"Come on" Aria smiled "Lets watch the movie". All of them settled in and turned their attention, well all but Shelby and Emily. Emily kept her attention on Shelby, discreetly, and Shelby kept her thoughts on the dinner to come tomorrow night, well the person she would be with.

Every thing seemed more defined, more beautiful. Every twinkle in Ashley's eyes were beautifully blinding. As Shelby's hands reach to the older woman's and held them tightly, they were warm and soft, and a small smile crawled across the red heads face. Everything was perfect. Too perfect, Shelby looked around the restaurant, just waiting for something to change. "Um, Shelby?" Ashley laughed lightly. "Are you okay?"

Shelby looked back to the hands that were holding her's. They were still warm, there was still a good atmosphere, She still wore a beautiful red dress that complimented her hair, and it was still Ashley. "I'm...perfect" she blushed and tried to regain control of herself.

"You sure?" Ashley asked leaning closer. Her heart was beating fast. She was glad that there was a live band playing, at least this way she was sure that Shelby wouldn't hear.

"This is really embarrassing, but, I was just kind of making sure that this wasn't a dream." Shelby looked deep into Ashley's eyes, some how she gained a sense of extreme confidence. Maybe it was because she still wasn't convinced that this wasn't a dream. Or maybe it was because what was there to be nervous about? She was here and so was Ashley. She was holding her hand, and she was flirting with her. Obviously there was something here and it didn't matter about everything else. Even if just for a little while. Mona didn't matter, A didn't matter, and The lying didn't matter either.

'The Lying matters' Ashley thought to herself as the waiter placed the food in front of her. It was the first time all night that Ashley was able to break focus from her date. Maybe it was because the waiter looked at her like why was she holding hands with a girl old enough to be her daughter. This was why she had taken Shelby dinner outside of Rosewood. People could assume here but they don't know shit. They don't even know her name. So what they thought didn't matter. But the lies, those mattered. Hanna mattered.

"This is really good" Shelby told the older woman "Thank you for taking me here" Her eye's were a brilliant bright color in the light of the restaurant.

"What are we doing?" Ashley finally asked. The question caught Shelby off guard. She slowly placed down her fork and just stared for a moment. She looked down at her food and it turned her stomach.

"What do you mean?" She wasn't dumb. The young girl knew exactly what she meant. 'Great, here it comes. You're too young for me. You're my daughters friend. This isn't right.

"This, us, what is this?" Ashley repeated the question as though trying to answer it herself. Shelby placed her hands on her lap, her face was straight with a hint of anger.

"Go ahead, do it" she told Ashley.

"Do what?" The older woman asked.

"Tell me that I am too young, tell me that this is wrong and that I probably shouldn't work for you anymore!" Shelby's eyes began to water as she stood, she placed the napkin on the table and walked toward the door.

"Shit!" Ashley said to herself, 'I could have said that better...what are you doing go after her'. By the time Ashley caught up with Shelby she was crying outside the entrance of the restaurant. "Shelby!"

Shelby wiped her eyes and looked away, she could admit to herself that this was not the best way to handle the situation but she was so sick of getting hurt all the time. There she was in a cast with a bruised leg bone but she forced herself into a sexy dress and heels just to get punched in the gut. "What?" she forced, refusing to look at the older woman, embarrassed for how she acted.

"I wasn't going to say any of that" Shelby turned around fast with wide eyes.

"Great" she crossed her arms, she made a fool of herself for no reason at all. "I'm sorry I'm just used to that sort of treatment and I...really like you" In part it lifted a huge weight off of her chest, on the other hand she was afraid of what damage she had already done with her little temper tantrum.

"I like you too, a lot." She smiled and wiped the tears that were left on Shelby's face and stood closer to her. "That's why I needed to know what this is. I need to come to terms with lying to my daughter. If we do this, it has to be between us. Is that okay with you?" Ashley asked. Shelby thought for a moment, it wasn't she was A, the lie could be a lot worse, Ashley was the best thing that happened to her since she got to Rosewood.

"Its whatever you say Ashley, I can be a secret, as long as we can spend our time like this" She blushed. Ashley pulled her in and placed her hands onto the young girls face. She leaned in and as light as a feather pressed her lips against the red painted lips of her young predecessor's. Shelby was shocked at first but it didn't have to take long before she pushed in deeper. More passionate. Ashley ran her hands down Shelby's body and pulled her in closer. Their lips moved in unison, it was like the most beautiful dance ever performed. It felt as though the kiss lasted for hours, it was only a few moments. It would have lasted longer but an old couple had opened the door to exit and it almost hit them.

Ashley stepped to the side and chuckled. "Oops". Shelby ran her fingers through her hair shyly as the old couple passed. Besides that last embarrassing little part. This was the best night of her life.

Shelby walked into her bedroom and closed the door behind her. She sighed as she fell backward on the bed. She clinched her teeth forgetting the pain of her cast for a split second, which was hard to do considering she had, had an itch there since Monday. She used her feet to kick off her heals, just as she was preparing to struggle with her dress and cast when her phone began to buzz on the bed next to her. Naively, she thought it was a goodnight text from Ashley, so she opened up right away. She settled in comfortably and read

"**Got a Secret, Can I keep it? Maybe! Keep you posted Bitch -A**"

"No" She knew if anyone found out about her relationship...Ashley would hate her. She began to text quickly.

"**What do you want me to do?!**" She hit send and waited impatiently for a reply, her phone buzzed once more. She opened it as though there was an antidote in the text.

"**The user you are trying to reach is not excepting messages at this time. If you think this is a mistake please check the number and try again.**"

**-Hey guys sorry this took so long, I hope you like it! Please I beg of you, Leave reviews!**


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